a hard day's night
by lauren lachrymose
Summary: A story about cheap beer, blackmail, and a one-night stand. Because nobody told Roxas that living in Brooklyn would be this hard — RikuRoku; AU


- x -

**SO I'M MOVING TO NEW YORK**  
'_cause I've got problems with my sleep;__  
We are not the same  
& I will wear that on my sleeve._

**the wombats. **

- x -

Standing alone on a crowded subway, Roxas stared unseeing into his own face reflected in the grimy window of alternating dark-and-light. Laptops clicked, bodies were jarred into each other, and metal slid jerkily along steel rail, but nobody said a word.

It was much different than life back in Texas, where even strangers were best friends and people exchanged smiles as often as they exchanged money. Here in the Big Apple (why it was called that, Roxas still didn't know), it was every man for himself. Everyone had too much shit of their own to even _pretend _to care about yours.

The subway began to slide into a sudden stop, causing every passenger to sway dangerously to the left. The doors creaked open, and Roxas hitched his bag higher up on his shoulder, melding in with the mass of people around him and stepping out into New York City's underground.

As the crowd dispersed, Roxas felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his jeans.

"Yes?" he answered curtly, his voice carrying the chill of the late autumn air.

There was a burst of chattering voices, and then the sound of a door closing as the din of laughter was muffled. "Hey there, Blondie! Where in hell are you? The party started a good five minutes ago! Riku's about to bust a cap in my beautiful ass 'cause I'm not 'supervising you' and shit. Psht, like you can't walk around without getting raped or mugged or something. Well, now that I think about it…"

Roxas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Axel, shut up. Please. I'm almost there, okay? I had to take Canarsie to Bushwick from Olette's place and then back here-"

"_Bushwick_? What in the name of Jessica Alba were you doing in Bushwick?"

"It doesn't matter what I was doing. Besides, it's like, right next to Williamsburg anyway. I didn't go _too _far." The young man let out a short cry as he slipped on his way up the stairway into the night above. "What street did you say this party is on again?"

He heard Axel give a low grunt of annoyance. "It's on Bedford, so it won't be very hard to find. But Roxas, seriously, as someone who doesn't know the city very well, you're a bit overconfident."

"I am _not _overconfident," Roxas snapped, offended, running a hand through his mess of blonde hair. "_You're _just an idiot."

"Aw, Roxxie, don't be like that," Axel crooned from the other line. "I'm just looking out for my best friend, is all. Anyway, you need to get here in one piece so you can hear Demyx's story about some Liar's show he went to. And Larx'll most likely get hammered and beat the shit out of whoever's near her, which is always fun to watch."

Roxas sighed again, moving nimbly out of the way of various passerby, his sneakers splashing droplets of rainwater onto the legs of his jeans. "I'll see you in a couple minutes, okay?"

His friend reluctantly said goodbye, and Roxas shut his phone sharply. Maybe a wild party and a few drinks were just what he needed. Especially after a day like this one.

Wrapping his jacket tightly around himself, the young man sped up from his previous lazy gait across the sidewalk.

It was time to have a little fun.

- - -

Pulsating music greeted him as he pushed open the door to the small apartment, careful not to hit any of the dancing bodies writhing around him.

"_Roxas_!" One of the dancers suddenly squealed, throwing her too-skinny arms around his neck and sloshing some of her beer onto his sweater in the process. She pulled back and beamed at him, auburn hair matted to her forehead with sweat. "It's so good to see you! It's been what, a whole day?"

The blonde allowed himself a grin. "Too long. I'm going to find the host -- save me a dance, okay?"

Kairi giggled and took a sip of her drink, waving with the tips of her fingers. "Will do!"

Tossing his friend a parting smile, Roxas threw his messenger bag onto a nearby table, and set off on his quest for a certain white-haired young man. His blue eyes scanned the perimeter, pausing occasionally on a familiar face here and there. Tifa was currently pouring a drink on someone who Roxas vaguely recognized as Axel's older brother, Demyx was talking animatedly to a very attentive Sora, and Naminé seemed to be learning how to 'dance' (read as: _seduce_) from an overly eager Yuffie.

But Riku was nowhere in sight.

"Hey there, short stuff!" A familiar voice slurred, the owner slinging a wiry arm around Roxas' shoulders. "Wondered when you'd get here."

The younger man wrinkled his nose in distaste at the stench of liquor on the intruder's breath. "Drunk already, Axel? Or were you already wasted when you got here?"

His best friend let out a decidedly emasculating giggle. "Well, I _might have _previously been at ol' Xiggy's bar, but thas' of no impertinence… im-im_port_ance."

Roxas couldn't help but laugh as he shoved Axel's arm off from its place on his shoulders, the weight of his day's previous stress already lifting. "D'you know where the hell Riku is? The bastard made me go all the way to Olette's place to get a fucking _CD_, and I can't even find the man! And she forced me to go _grocery shopping_ with her! At Whole Foods! She made me carry everything -- and I mean _everything._ So much fucking food…" He was startled out of his reverie as Axel clapped him hard on the back.

"Sorry 'bout that, Blondie. I have no clue in the seven regions of _hell _where Mr. Shampoo Commercial is, but what I _can _tell you is that if you need me, I'll be having a rather intimate discussion with the toilet."

And before Roxas could blink, the restroom door was closing behind a mane of fire-engine red hair.

A blue plastic cup was shoved into his hand as he attempted to find a room that wasn't locked, Hot Hot Heat's _Naked in the City Again _pulsating through the cheap speakers. Ink-pen scribbles adorned nearly every door; dates and names signed in varying colors, complete with what seemed to be a rating. Currently, Roxas was staring at someone called Tidus, who apparently was the ten o' clock - the signer (who Roxas thought was Riku himself) rated this person a whopping 8. Not bad, Tidus. Not bad at all.

Suddenly, the aforementioned door opened, revealing a half-naked host with a satisfied grin. "Roxas, what a pleasant surprise."

The blonde boy snorted. "Hardly. You practically begged me to be here."

Riku put his hand over his (bare, Roxas couldn't help but notice) chest, Caribbean-blue eyes widening in mock offense. "I do not _beg_! I… _persuade_," he smirked seductively, and trailed his fingers down the side of the younger man's neck.

Flushing, Roxas slapped Riku's hand away, rolling his eyes in an attempt at nonchalance. "Here," he said sharply, thrusting a blank disc in front of his friend, gesturing for him to take it. "This is the CD you wanted me to bring, right?"

Riku's smile vanished as he grabbed the silver disc roughly out of Roxas' outstretched hand. He glanced nervously around them. "You didn't see what was on it, right?"

"See what was on it? I thought it was just a CD…" Roxas absently took a sip of his drink as he glanced up at Riku in confusion.

This caused the white-haired man to bite his lip, his eyes shutting tightly. "_Fuck_. I am so _stupid_ sometimes, I swear… Look, Roxas, _this_," he raised the CD into the space between them, "is none of your business. Okay? It was- it was a mistake. There's a reason that I asked you to _sneak_ it out of Olette's apartment. Now if you don't mind," he said, turning around to place the mysterious disc in his bedroom, returning with a pair of bright orange sunglasses and sliding them into place. "I have a party to host. So scram. Get drunk or something."

Now, the curious high school boy that Roxas had left back in Texas poked and prodded at his brain, urging him to push the arrogant (_ungrateful!_) young man backward, and demand to know what he had just endured two hours of shopping for.

But the annoyed, more '_mature_' part of him (which he liked to think was much larger in size), simply moved to let him pass.

"_Lost and naked in the ci-ty agaaaain!" _A feminine voice shrilled, causing Roxas to jerk away and spill cheap alcohol on the bottom of his light blue sweater. "_In-tox-icaaated__by a quarter to ten! _Oh- Roxas aren't you hot in that?"

The blonde in question glanced up from the stain on his clothes, and into the shining face of none other than Yuffie.

His eyes traveled from her bright neon green tights to the martini glass full of pills in her hand; a somewhat exasperated laugh shooting out from between his lips. "Why, do you want me to take it off?"

In the dim light, Roxas thought he saw the tiny girl glance behind him, but he shrugged it off as her easily-distracted nature. The blinding purple sequins on her headband glittered weakly as she tossed her head back.

"Because you're _sex-ay_, that's why!" she giggled, twirling into a slight pirouette, a few colored capsules spilling out of the glass. "Right, Sora?"

Roxas heard light, bubbling laughter through the blare of music behind him, and a disheveled mess of brown hair slowly came into view. The other boy grinned, picking a line of silly string off of his t-shirt and placing it on top of Yuffie's head. "Haha! That's gross, Yuf! He's like, my freaking _cousin_. I know that Einstein married his, but he was kind of crazy. And Austrian. Or was it German? Eh, whatever," Sora shrugged. "You should ask Hayner -- he'd say yes."

The song abruptly changed (Demyx got bored rather easily), and Roxas downed the rest of his drink in embarrassment at his cousin's words. He and Hayner used to have a very… _complicated_ relationship. But that's what happens when two best friends use each other to realize they're gay. That was a very awkward year that Roxas would have rather forgotten.

Something crashed in the tiny kitchen to the left of their little group, Riku's drunken slur rising over the energetic music of the Ting Tings blasting from the speakers. "Who dares to challenge the Tequila Shot Master?" he shouted, and Roxas could just barely make out the alarmingly orange eyewear through the crowd.

"Oh, sweet Jesus…" Sora muttered, mortified by his best friend's actions. The silver crown-like emblem dangling from his neck glinted in the dim light as he moved to make his way through the throng of people, smiling nervously at Roxas before turning to face the host of the party.

"Why do we hang out with such a douche bag again?"

Roxas glanced over to see Kairi standing next to him, her violet eyes (contact lenses -- she liked the attention the odd color brought her) rolling in distaste.

Sighing, the blonde wearily shook his head. "I've been asking myself that very question for a while now."

People whooped and hollered, egging him on as Riku clumsily began to raise the shot glass to his lips, but he was suddenly interrupted by a very embarrassed Sora.

"Oh, hey! Are you here to challenge me?" Riku shouted, his normally pale face flushed, green eyes shining up at his best friend in a sort of drunken innocence. He let out a short yell as Sora pulled him away from the counter, stumbling over a couple making out furiously on the floor. "_Sora!_" he whined, "What'd you do that for?"

Sora scowled and placed his hands firmly on Riku's shoulders, his normally sunny disposition turned sour with a downward twitch of his lips. "Riku, stop it. I know that this is your own party 'n all, but you can't exactly afford to get busted by the cops again. _Please_ don't pass out. 'Kay?"

Riku blinked in rapid succession, and before he could respond with a fragmented retort, his so-called 'best friend' roughly shoved him into the unassuming chest of none other than Roxas.

The pair cursed as Roxas' drink spilled _yet again _(he had just gotten a new one, too!), soaking the back of Riku's neck and shoulder blades with cheap-rum-and-a-roofie. The blonde's surprised yelp was drowned out by the constant pulsing of the music overhead, and he barely grabbed onto the host's hand before he began an unfortunate friendship with the floor.

"-take him - room - I'll be with Kairi in the - right?"

Roxas looked up from his friend's irritated and rum-covered face, and into that of his cousin's. "_What?_ I can't hear you!"

But the brunette only smiled and sauntered off, melting into the horde of strangers with familiar faces.

And Roxas was left there.

Alone.

With a very inebriated, very _pissed off_ Riku.

Shit.

This wasn't good.

"Aw, _fuck_…"

Roxas sighed and pushed his sweat-slicked bangs back off of his face. _Damn_ it was starting to get hot in here. He pulled at the hem of his sweater absently before pursing his lips, turning his icy gaze upon the drunkard whose fingers he was still clinging to. What the hell was he going to do with _this_ asshole?

The asshole in question just stared back at him, scowling and looking only a _bit_ confused in that oh-lord-I-am-_so_-drunk kind of way.

And Roxas.

Was still holding.

Riku's hand.

Embarrassed, Roxas hurriedly pulled his fingers out of the strange grip his 'frenemy' had them in, wiping the palms of his hands across the front of his pants. Riku simply blinked, unfazed.

"I wan' another drink," he slurred, attempting to right himself and failing miserably, losing his footing as he accidentally knocked into a feverishly dancing Yuffie. He only waved her off when the self-titled ninja glared at him haughtily, and grabbed onto an irritated Roxas for support. "Hey, Rox…" Riku smirked, slowly invading the blonde's personal space, "I'mma buy you a draaaaank."

Roxas rolled his eyes, but didn't push the man away, in fear of him toppling over and possibly hurting one of the guests. He grit his teeth in frustration. "Riku, you need to lie down," the blonde sighed, grabbing onto the host's arm and moving him toward his bedroom door. "_Now_."

Scribbles of Sharpie-written names and numbers greeted them as Roxas hauled Riku into the room, and a sudden burst of laughter was muffled as he kicked the door shut.

"Oh, Roxas, I had no idea you felt this way about me…" Riku purred, abruptly turning to face the disgruntled young man in front of him. "If you wanted me alone, ya could've just asked."

Roxas opened his mouth to speak, but his sarcastic remark dissolved into a gasp as he felt Riku place his hands on his waist. What… what the _hell _was he doing?

"Y'know, I never did thank you _properly_ for doing me that favor earlier…" Riku said, his voice a low rasp, brushing the tip of his nose against Roxas' own. The temperature of the room seemed to rise as Roxas felt cold fingers delve under the hem of his shirt and lightly stroke the band of skin below his hipbone.

"R-Riku, seriously, what the he- _god_!"

Roxas let out a soft hiss, his eyes glazing over despite himself, once Riku lowered his head down to the crook of the younger man's neck and began to trace small patterns with his tongue. His grip on Roxas' waist tightened as Roxas began to squirm, and the blonde was sure that there would be fingerprint-shaped bruises decorating his hips in the morning. This - this was _wrong_, he - he shouldn't be doing this, not after - they just - _no_!

But while Roxas struggled to get away, Riku had other ideas.

With a feral growl that Roxas could fucking _feel_, the older of the two roughly pushed Roxas back onto the bed, straddling him. "Don't pretend that you don't want this," Riku whispered in a tone that caused the blonde's breath to catch in his throat, and blood to rush to a place that he did _not_ want it to go. "Don't pretend that you don't want _me_…"

"I-I _hate_ you," Roxas said breathily as his hands were pinned to the mattress, blue eyes growing more and more unfocused with each movement of Riku's hips into his own. How the fuck did this even _happen_? It didn't make any sense, not at all, and why was Roxas submitting to the same arrogant charm that he had frowned upon for the past six months?

"No you don't," was his only response, and as Riku began to rock against him, Roxas decided that he didn't care anymore.

It was a heated battle of teeth and hands and tongues, the acidic taste of lust burning pathways down their throats. It was too hot in that room, too stifling, and Roxas couldn't _breathe_, not with the feeling of Riku's skin against his own; not with the feeling of Riku's fingers working at the zipper of his jeans.

Music from the party pounded on the bedroom door, the only reminder that a world existed outside of this moment of primal impulse. Eyes closed tightly, Roxas bit his lip to keep himself from crying out as Riku slid inside of him, breath hot against his collarbone.

His mind flashed back to the handwriting on the doorframe, to the predatory smirk and the stains on the sheets.

"_Riku_," Roxas couldn't help but moan, dragging his fingernails across the older man's shoulder blades in a confused mix of frustration and need to get closer. "I w-won't just be another name written on your wall."

If Riku understood him, he didn't show it. He only crushed his lips to Roxas' in something much too harsh to be called a kiss, and continued to move against him until the only coherent words running through his head were the lyrics to whatever song was playing in the other room.

_I want to hold you close; soft breath, beating heart.  
As I whisper in your ear: "I wanna fucking tear you apart."_

* * *

**a/n; **So I know it's kind of weird for a story to _start off_ with sex, drugs, & rock 'n roll... but just trust me. Think of this as the prologue -- the event that gets everything going. 'cause things are only going to get more complicated from here. And I also know that this all seems very hurried and sudden and a little bit vague, but it's supposed to be. I imagine that's what the actual night would have been like for Roxas, y'know? Anyway, tell me if anyone wants an actual chapter of this thing. Riku's mysterious 'CD', Roxas' history with Hayner, and even party-crashers are planned to make appearances. :3


End file.
